You need to have them to get Legates. However, it makes no sense to put them in the legionary units, as they convey no attack benefits and if a unit is lost you would lose an additional army break point. Consequently we will see them leading their brave boys from behind, or hanging around near skirmishers to try to rally them when they break.

It's just not how I envisage centurions behaving - or have I missed something.

In the EIR list from the Classical Armies book (p.46), there is an added sentence that reads, "Centurions may only lead Legionary units." From this, I infer that a centurion must accompany (i.e. be attached to) a legionary unit, and that the role of a centurion is to add to the cohesion value of the accompanying legionaries.

Most players that I know of field legionaries in units 5 bases strong. Therefore an accompanying centurion would fit very nicely in the centre of the unit's second row of bases.

‘Find something you love to do and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.’
~ Anonymous

I think it still means that 1 am likely to have bunch of centurions hanging around the back of the units if the general is within 12 inches (which is quite likely in a small expensive Roman army). The risk of loosing army break points outweighs their utility.

I noticed the new erratum for EIR Centurions on the Swordpoint web site. It currently reads:

"A Centurion is A+2, C+1 and costs 15 points. It is a Legate, rather than a Centurion, which can only command legionary units."

IMHO the original list of commanders is perfectly fine. During the Republican and Imperial periods, Roman centurions were integral to their own maniples/cohorts, while a legate commanded at least one entire legion. Legates also commanded auxiliary troops. For historical accuracy, I would only change the line about Centurions to something like:

"A Centurion may only command a legionary unit, to which he remains attached at all times."

Just my two sestertii's worth!

Cheers,
Scott

Last edited by A Lot of Gaul on Mon Dec 04, 2017 10:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

‘Find something you love to do and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.’
~ Anonymous

If you wanted to use an Auxiliary only force you are rather stumped with Centurions only able to lead legionaries.
Auxiliaries had their own Centurions hence the change I would guess.
Also consider when a unit breaks the loss of a commander contributes to the army break.
Double whammy when the centurion is attached to a unit at all times.
Believe I know. Looking forward to using the list with these changes.